Things I Like About My New Dog

She doesn’t chew stuff in the house. As a first-time visitor to the home, she could be expected to gnaw on a few shoes or cords; doesn’t.

She knows “no” very well, and has already learned not to get up on the furniture. Today, I threw her monkey over the couch, and she leapt up on the couch to get to it, got an “Oh crap!” look on her face, and jumped down.

She is not fazed by loud noises, like thunderstorms or the icemaker or the blender.

She is, however, baffled by the MPS (our home theater system) and was actively pushing at the speakers when there was a crying baby she was trying to help. Adorbs.

She is housetrained, and hasn’t had a single accident yet.

She’s social. She wants to be where we are, so follows us about, but also respects boundaries; she’ll poke her head into the bathroom, but won’t come in.

She loves her squeaky monkey, and has just learned the trick of flinging it into the air so she can catch it herself.

She’s surprisingly chill with other dogs, even if she inspires what I’m told is “Black Dog Syndrome”: other dogs react like she’s fucking Damien, which apparently is because they can’t read her body language. It’s a little weird seeing them loser their shit while Shasta just sort of cocks her head to go, “What’s your issue, dude?”

She barks a little when someone is at the door, but a very short series – two or three, kind of like a doggy doorbell. Then she calms down, once she knows who it is.

She likes her scritches. I’m still charmed when I’m mapping out solutions for a tough problem at SCG, and suddenly there’s this face popping up to want a pet. I can’t resist.

There are some issues, natch – mainly Shasta’s separation anxiety, as whenever anyone leaves the house she loses it, and whines and barks like we’ve all been chewed to bits in a human-mangling factory – but that’ll pass, as we’ve been instructed by previous dog owners to not make any deal of it, just come and go like everything’s all but normal, and eventually she’ll adjust.

Of course, literally as I typed that last sentence, she came into the living room with a mouthful of tasty paper towels she’d shredded, but… we got it out of her mouth quickly, and she gave it up without incident. So on the whole, I pronounce Shasta to be a Good Dog.

I’m really glad that she’s settling in so well, but I do want to point out that there is commonly a ‘honeymoon phase’ while a dog gets used to a new home. I’m not trying to scare you, just make sure that you’re prepared if, in a few weeks from now, you suddenly find you self saying “WTF? She’s never done THAT before!”